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Thursday, April 5, 2012

NK Region Govt office hours changed.

The State government’s decision to give relief to its employees in North Karnataka by changing the working hours in view of summer is feared to have an adverse impact on drought-relief works.

The Personnel and Administrative Reforms department has changed the working hours from 8 am to 1:30 pm with effect from April 2 in Gulbarga, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir, Bellary, Bidar (all Gulbarga division), and Bagalkot and Bijapur (in Belgaum division). Normal working hours are 10 am to 5:30 pm. The changed timings will be in effect for two months.

The State government has already declared drought in 124 taluks, where people are facing acute scarcity of drinking water and fodder.

Sources said many deputy commissioners of these districts had opposed any change in working hours as they feared it would hamper the drought-relief works. A large number of employees travel long distances to reach their work spots. It would not be possible for them therefore to reach their offices at 8 am. Moreover, it is argued that the changed timings would also cause inconvenience to the employees as they have to travel to reach home at 1:30 pm when the temperature would be at its peak.

The Andhra Pradesh government does not change the working hours though the temperature soars to alarming levels in many parts every year. Though Karnataka changes working hours on humanitarian grounds, it should assess the impact, especially when the State is facing drought, before implementing it, sources said.

Sources also said the change in hours would affect the effective implementation of Sakala, the government’s flagship IT-enabled programme to deliver various services in time. Sakala was implemented State wide from April 2.